Lidl GB has announced a new set of food waste reduction initiatives as it raises its long-term target to cut food waste by 70 per cent by the end of the decade.

The discounter revealed the new ambition to coincide with the start of Food Waste Action Week, increasing its previous target of a 50 per cent reduction by 2030 after already surpassing its earlier goal of cutting food waste by 40 per cent by the end of its 2025 financial year.

The retailer said the updated target will be supported by a series of new trials designed to expand redistribution and strengthen circular economy practices across its operations.

As part of the next phase of its strategy, Lidl is extending its partnership with community platform Neighbourly to pilot the charity’s Surplus Saviours initiative across the Midlands this summer.

The scheme will allow registered individuals, including volunteers and members of the public, to collect unsold surplus food from Lidl stores, helping to redistribute products that might otherwise go to waste.

The trial also introduces extended evening collection windows, allowing access to fresh and chilled products approaching their use-by date later in the day.

Lidl expects the initiative could help redistribute more than 5,000 tonnes of food to communities in need.

Alongside the redistribution programme, the supermarket is also launching a circular economy trial in the Peterborough area that will divert inedible bakery products into animal feed.

Surplus items such as bread loaves and croissants that are not suitable for human consumption will be repurposed as feedstock rather than being discarded.

Matt Juden-Bloomfield, head of sustainability at Lidl GB, said the retailer is continuing to push for deeper reductions in food waste across its operations.

“At Lidl, we set ambitious targets that challenge how we operate and inspire innovation when it comes to food waste,” he said. “We’ve made good strides, but we know we can do more.

“With that in mind, we have increased our targets to ensure we remain accountable and introduced some exciting new trials to take things to the next level.”

Juden-Bloomfield added that collaboration across the industry will remain essential to tackling food waste at scale.

“We remain committed to accelerating our progress in this space and collaborating closely with our industry peers to drive lasting impact for both the environment and the communities we are at the heart of.”

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The supermarket works closely with environmental NGO WRAP to develop data-led approaches to waste reduction. Lidl has been a signatory of WRAP’s UK Food & Drink Pact for the past decade.

Estelle Herszenhorn, director of food system transformation at WRAP, said Lidl’s latest initiatives build on a range of existing efforts aimed at preventing waste before it occurs.

“For the past ten years Lidl GB has been an active and engaged signatory of WRAP’s UK Food & Drink Pact,” she said. “It has been fantastic seeing them offer loose fruit and vegetables and adopt best practice labelling, both of which help shoppers reduce their household food waste.”

She also highlighted Lidl’s work to align its in-store bakery output more closely with demand as an example of prevention in practice.

Updates to the retailer’s bakery operations have already helped reduce bakery-related food waste by around 30 per cent over the past year. The discounter has introduced more responsive baking schedules and uses its Lidl Plus app to offer customers 20 per cent off bakery items after 7pm in an effort to ensure more products are sold before closing time.

Redistribution has also played a key role in Lidl’s waste strategy. Since 2016, the retailer has donated the equivalent of more than 50 million meals through its Feed it Back programme, which works with Neighbourly to connect every Lidl store with local charities and community groups.

Despite these efforts, food waste remains one of the UK’s most persistent environmental and economic challenges.

Around 9.5 million tonnes of food are wasted each year across the UK, according to industry estimates, with roughly two-thirds of that still considered edible at the point of disposal. Households account for around 70 per cent of this waste, while retail contributes a much smaller share of roughly two per cent.

Globally, around a third of all food produced is wasted each year, while in the UK food waste is responsible for approximately 25 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions annually.